Rent 9780130289223 | Becoming a Critical Thinker: A User Friendly Manual

Summary Table of Contents

For courses in Critical Thinking, Informal Logic, Rhetoric, Argumentation, and English courses which cover the Argumentative Essay. This text trains students to distinguish high-quality, well-supported arguments from arguments with little or no evidence to support them. It develops the skills required to effectively evaluate the many claims facing them as citizens, learners, consumers, and human beings, and also to be effective advocates for their beliefs.

Preface

xiii

Foundations of Arguments

(21)

What Is a Critical Thinker and When Do You Need to Be One?

... MORE

The Structure of Argument

(19)

The Issue

(3)

The Conclusion

(2)

The Reasons

(4)

``War on Drugs Fails: We Need New Approach''

(1)

``Cause, Not the Effect''

(1)

``Nothing Positive in Airbag News''

(2)

Highlights

(1)

Checkup

(1)

Articles for Discussion

(1)

``Talk-Show Host Angers Disabled Community''

(2)

``Radio Show on Rights of Disabled Defended''

(2)

More Ideas for Writing or Speaking

(1)

Values and Ethics

(37)

What Price Ethics and Can You Afford Not to Pay?

``Question Man: Fictional Character You Admire Most?''

(1)

Value Assumptions and Conflicts

(10)

``Do Colleges Treat Asian-American Applicants Fairly?''

(1)

``Affirmative Action Triumphs: The Untold Stories''

(2)

``The Backlash of Affirmative Action''

(2)

Ideas for Writing or Speaking

(1)

Ethics---An Important Dimension of Values

(6)

Libertarianism

(1)

Utilitarianism

(1)

Egalitarianism

(1)

Judeo-Christian Principles

(1)

Universal Ethical Norms or Universal Action-Guiding Principles

(1)

``One Bandit's Ethic''

(1)

``Staffer Gets Subpoenaed''

(2)

Ideal Values Versus Real Values

(2)

Ethics in Argumentation

(1)

Ethical Decision Making

(16)

``Common Rationalizations''

(3)

``Ohio Reverend, Feeding Poor with Illegal Stamps, Faces Jail''

(1)

Highlights

(1)

Checkup

(1)

Articles for Discussion

(1)

``National Public Radio''

(2)

``Music, to Wal-Mart's Ears, Should Be 'Clean'''

(2)

``Student Markets Primer on the Art of Cheating''

(2)

Ideas for Writing or Speaking

(2)

Reality Assumptions

(38)

It's Eleven O'Clock. Do You Know Where Your Assumptions Are?

Reality Assumptions

(1)

Detecting Reality Assumptions

(2)

The Need to Examine Assumptions

(6)

``Acquittal Outrages Women''

(2)

Deductive Reasoning

(4)

Validity in Deductive Arguments: Using the Correct Form

(3)

Truth in Deductive Arguments

(2)

The Uses of Deductive Reasoning

(7)

Using Deductive Reasoning to Discover Truth

(3)

Using Deductive Reasoning to Combat Prejudice and Stereotyping

(2)

Summary

(1)

The Premise of Contention: Using Deduction to Understand Argument

(15)

Highlights

(1)

Checkup

(1)

Articles for Discussion

(1)

``Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space''

(4)

``Is This the Promised Land?''

(4)

``Wasted Food, Discovered Souls''

(2)

Ideas for Writing or Speaking

(1)

``The Ant and the Grasshopper''

(1)

Inductive Arguments: Statistical And Causal Generalizations

(42)

Prove It to Me: What Are the Statistics?

Inductive Reasoning

(4)

Statistical Evidence

102

(1)

The Use of Statistics

102

(3)

``Sexual Diseases Are a Growing Scourge in the U.S.''

104

(1)

How the Research is Done

105

(6)

The Sample Must Be Large Enough

106

(2)

The Sample Must Represent the Target Audience

108

(1)

The Sample Must Be Random

108

(1)

Questions to Ask About Statistical Reports

109

(2)

Using Surveys as Evidence

111

(1)

Statistical Generalizations

112

(1)

``At a Lecture---Only 12 Percent Listen''

113

(1)

The Reporting of Statistical Studies

113

(2)

``Family Members, Not Strangers, Abduct Most Children''

Causal Generalizations

115

(1)

``Ann Landers''

115

(1)

Hume's Conditions for Cause and Effect

116

(1)

Technical Causation

116

(9)

Multiple Causes

118

(3)

``Asian Women in U.S. Face Higher Cancer Risk''

121

(1)

``Self-Segregation''

122

(1)

``Curb Teen Smoking by Valuing Kids''

123

(1)

Immediate Causes

124

(1)

Mill's Analysis of Cause and Effect

125

(2)

Method of Agreement

125

(1)

Method of Difference

126

(1)

Using Difference and Similarity Together to Determine Cause

127

(12)

Highlights

128

(1)

Checkup

128

(1)

Articles for Discussion

129

(1)

``Despite Options on Census, Many to Check 'Black' Only''

129

(4)

``Researchers Practice the Science and Art of Public-Opinion Polling''

133

(4)

Ideas for Writing or Speaking

137

(1)

Longer-Term Writing Assignment

138

(1)

Inductive Generalizations: Controlled Studies and Analogies

139

(43)

Who Said So? Who Are They Anyway?

Research Design

141

(1)

Criteria for Evaluating Research Findings

142

(6)

Controversy in Research Findings

148

(6)

``Study Implies Nicotine Prevents Alzheimer's''

150

(2)

``Sickening Experiment on Human Subjects''

152

(2)

Use of Authority: Expert Testimony

154

(4)

``An Opinion with Substance''

157

(1)

Problems with Expert Testimony

158

(10)

``CBS News---48 Hours''

165

(3)

Reasoning by Analogy

168

(14)

Highlights

171

(1)

Checkup

171

(1)

Articles for Discussion

172

(1)

``Food News Blues''

172

(6)

``Study: Educational TV Truly Makes Kids Smarter''

178

(2)

Ideas for Writing or Speaking

180

(2)

Reasoning Errors

182

(37)

I Know What I Think. Don't Confuse Me with Facts

Inadequate Reasons as Fallacies

183

(18)

Faulty Analogies

183

(4)

False Cause: Post Hoc Ergo Procter Hoc

187

(2)

Ad Hominem: Attacking the Person

189

(4)

The Slippery Slope

193

(2)

Hasty Conclusions

195

(6)

Fallacies that Mislead

201

(9)

The Red Herring

201

(1)

Ad Populum: Jumping on the Bandwagon

202

(2)

Appeal to Tradition: ``We've Always Done It This Way''

204

(1)

The False Dilemma

205

(2)

Begging the Question

207

(3)

What's My Fallacy?

210

(9)

Game rules

210

(1)

Scoring

210

(1)

Highlights

211

(1)

Checkup

211

(1)

Articles for Discussion

212

(1)

``Ashamed of Strug's Sacrifice''

212

(1)

``Kerri Strug Made Reader Cheer''

213

(1)

``Keep Women Off the Streets''

213

(1)

``Who's to Say Who Earns Too Much?''

214

(2)

``Sowell Column Got It All Wrong''

216

(2)

Ideas for Writing or Speaking

218

(1)

The Power of Language

219

(34)

Talk Is Not Cheap. So Who Pays for It?

Denotation and Connotation

220

(3)

The Power of Connotation

223

(2)

Reification: When Words Take on More Power Than Reality

225

(3)

Meanings are in People

228

(4)

``Case Closed: Bladder Threat, Not Bomb''

229

(2)

``Sure I'm Committed...Oops...Bye-Bye''

231

(1)

The Problem of Vagueness

232

(2)

Ambiguity in Language

234

(2)

Doublespeak, Including Weasel Words

236

(17)

Highlights

244

(1)

Checkup

244

(1)

Articles for Discussion

245

(1)

``African-American' Is an Imprecise, Debatable Term''

245

(2)

``What's in a Name?''

247

(1)

``Free-Range? Sorting Out the Poultry Labels''

248

(3)

Ideas for Writing or Speaking

251

(2)

Suggestion in Media

253

(37)

Is What You See What You Get? Do You Really Want It?

``The Lost Art of the Public Speech''

254

(1)

Suggestion in Daily Life

255

(1)

Televised Suggestion

256

(8)

The Selection of Issues

256

(2)

The Time Factor

258

(1)

The Selection of Guest and Panel Members

259

(1)

What Is Included or Excluded on a Set

260

(1)

The Nonverbal Element of Clothing

261

(1)

The Use of Language

262

(1)

Camera Angles and Cuts

262

(1)

Camera Distance and Framing

263

(1)

Suggestion in Print Media

264

(5)

The Use of Headlines

265

(1)

``Report on Chocolate May Bring a Real High''

266

(1)

The Balance of Reporting on an Issue

267

(1)

Fairness in Editorial Essays and Letters

267

(1)

Photo Composition

268

(1)

The Power of Media to Shape Information

269

(4)

``'Kids' Section Portrays Lorene Unfairly''

270

(3)

Subliminal Persuasion

273

(17)

Persuasion We Can Detect

274

(1)

The Gestalt Principle

274

(2)

Persuasion We Cannot Detect

276

(1)

Highlights

277

(1)

Checkup

277

(1)

Articles for Discussion

278

(1)

``Store Design and Consumer Behavior''

278

(2)

``When Movies Go to War, Pentagon Tags Along''

280

(1)

``Survey Comes Clean About Sex on Soap Operas''

281

(2)

``Prelude to Vegas''

283

(4)

Ideas for Writing or Speaking

287

(3)

Fair-Mindedness

290

(38)

It's You and Me, Kid, and I'm Not So Sure About You

How we Defend Our Egos

293

(5)

Conformity and ways to Overcome it

298

(3)

Areas where we have Trouble Being Rational

301

(5)

Antidotes for Points of Logical Vulnerability

303

(3)

Actively and Accurately Listening: Developing Empathy

306

(1)

The Art of Listening Well

307

(4)

Precautions About Active Listening

311

(17)

Highlights

312

(1)

Checkup

313

(1)

Articles for Discussion

313

(1)

``The Lock: They Argue and I Argue Back. But I Never Seem to Win. The Key: Listen---Just Listen, and You'll Start to Win''

314

(1)

``It Happened''

315

(2)

Ideas for Writing or Speaking

317

(1)

Articles for Discussion

317

(1)

``You Just Don't Understand''

317

(3)

``Life on the Color Line''

320

(2)

``Breakfast and Tousled Cornrows''

322

(3)

Ideas for Writing or Speaking

325

(3)

Persuasive Speaking

328

(29)

What's Your Point? How Do You Sharpen It?

Being an Advocate of Ideas: Communicating Publicly

329

(1)

The Best Ways to Deal With Fear of Public Speaking

330

(1)

Audience Analysis

331

(2)

The Three Elements of a Persuasive Argument: Ethos, Logos, and Pathos

333

(24)

Ethos: Speaker Credibility

333

(1)

Logos: Logical Organization and Credible Content

334

(3)

``Organ Donation and Transplants''

337

(4)

Pathos: Emotional Appeal

341

(3)

Highlights

344

(1)

Checkup

345

(1)

Articles for Discussion

345

(1)

``Speak for Yourself''

345

(3)

``Changing a Man's Mind''

348

(2)

``I Have a Dream''

350

(3)

Ideas for Speaking or Writing

353

(4)

Glossary

357

(6)

Index

363

RENT TEXTBOOKS

Becoming a Critical Thinker: A User Friendly Manual

Why Rent from Knetbooks?

Top 5 reasons to order all your textbooks from Knetbooks:

Related Products